Is the person you sculpt as cute as me?

This time, she finally answered.

"It's those who finally became human after so much effort." She said this with a nostalgic smile.

“…Is this your new poem?”

"Poetry is nothing more than a variation of this heart... or what people call the soul, and is no different from the casual murmurs of the heart." Koltrast expressed it in a casual murmur, through the use of Yu Ran's questions, while skillfully tying her blonde hair into a ponytail. "So in essence, writing poetry or murmurs are the same."

This guy is really difficult to deal with.

But - unfortunately, Yu Man is extremely good at dealing with this kind of people.

"Well, I'm really going to ask this, and it might be a weird question, but are you my father?"

Yu Man finally couldn't help it.

Because the temperament and way of speaking that this guy displayed from beginning to end are too familiar to comics.

The other party stared at Yu Man blankly and remained silent for a full ten seconds——

"I'm afraid not." He laughed heartily. "Very interesting question."

"So you're my father's illegitimate daughter? Some kind of sister or older sister?"

Koltrast's smile deepened. "Who knows? If so, maybe you're the illegitimate daughter?"

"what?"

"I'm just kidding." Koltrast restrained his smile. "I should know who I am, and I also roughly know who you are. That's why we met, right?"

"...Then, speaking human language, who are you?"

She really didn't want to speak human language.

He just hooked his finger at Yu Man, and then they walked side by side on the street filled with art.

She pointed to the large crystal library—

"There was a lot of literature and art there that I had never encountered before, a lot of things woven from the heart by creators, pure and flawless desire for expression, the pure and untainted essence of art. So, I stepped into this world."

"Eat it?" My father shouldn't say that... It seems not.

Koltrast continued:

"But outside of this world, in the real world we come from, I've already devoured most of the literature and art there. It's so cruel."

Yu Man didn't quite understand.

Koltrast is well aware of this.

and so--

"Because that real world no longer moves forward."

Hearing this - Yu Man looked at her seriously, and she did the same.

"The world will just keep chattering, endlessly moving into 2024, then back three years, then back to 2024, right?"

"……you--"

"Because since 2024, I've always felt like I've seen all the newly released novels, animations, movies, games, comics... all kinds of literature and art. So, I know that the world is repeating itself."

“…Ah?” Because of this?

"Thus, I didn't want to revisit things I'd already read, but I needed to gain nourishment. In the repetitive reality of the world, I could only constantly seek out old works and the past. Before I knew it, I had devoured all the literature and art in the world that I had never encountered..."

"...So... you came to the Old World in search of new literature and art? After all... you already know that the world is trapped in a cycle... and no new works can be produced."

koltrast stayed where he was, a look of happiness on his face.

She was very happy because Yu Man understood her twists and turns.

231. Time

In order to keep the conversation going, they stopped standing under the crystal tree and chatted, but instead found a small restaurant nearby, at least a place where they didn't have to stand.

Even in Delerma, where art and literature flourish, art and crystal alone are not enough.

Whether it is artists, appreciators... or those who serve them, they all need to eat, drink, defecate and urinate.

However, as a local feature, the restaurants here are full of artistic atmosphere and have a great atmosphere.

They sat down at a tea shop called "Hunting Moon".

In the thin menu, each product has a beautiful name, and the price figures are inflated as much as possible.

There is a problem——

“It’s not very tasty…”

Yu Man held the drink in his hand and fell into deep thought.

The menu for this item states "Wan Yue Tea", a tea specially prepared to commemorate the waning of the moon."

But after getting it, it turned out that they actually put less icing sugar on the surface to imitate the moon, so as to create the visual effect of a crescent moon. Yu Man felt that it was very bland no matter how many times he drank it... It was really not that good.

"Never mind—compared to that... Blackbird...right? Can I call you that?"

Yu Man’s cultural knowledge is limited, and she can’t pronounce the name of the ID “koltrast” above her head.

Fortunately, the other person was generous: "Well, you're an eel, so it's okay to call you that, right?"

"Yes."

"Or should I call you a passer, an arrival... or a survivor of the cycle?"

Yu Man's eyelids twitched. The person in front of him named Blackie was really too confusing.

This whole thing made Yu Man feel extremely confused. It was full of the unique copywriting characteristics of the old world. It was very riddle-like, and it seemed as if the riddle was showing off... It was very unpleasant.

She pressed her temples and tried to summarize: "So far, let me summarize..."

The blackbird looked at Yu Man quietly, smiling gloomily and mysteriously.

Yu Man said, "You're a fan of literature and art, and you read a lot of it. Then, starting in 24, you found that everything you saw had a strong sense of déjà vu, and you always felt like you'd seen it before—right?"

"Yes."

"Thus, through this clue, you discovered that this world has been in a cycle for three years since 24, and the world is trapped in these three years, unable to move forward."

"Yeah." Blackbird nodded and added, "This also prompted me to use this time to look back and start seeking nourishment from the literary and artistic world of the past. So I devoured the art of the entire world and the entire history..."

"And then—you find there's nothing left to chew on..."

Before she could sort out her words, Blackie had already taken over Yu Man's words -

"So—I came to the Old World. I know this game is not simple. After all, the time it was released is equivalent to the starting point of the world's cycle..."

At this point, things were still very clear and Yu Man could understand them.

But the problem is-

"Well, do you accept this excuse? I think it's a reasonable explanation, right?"

Blackie looked at Yu Man and said happily -

"So, Eel, is this enough of a ticket for me to join your secret circle of passers-by and play with you?"

"...Who are you?" This is what confused Yu Man.

Blackie raised his teacup, used the bottom of the cup to hide his expression, and just used his wet lips to chat casually.

"Eel, you see, there are roughly two kinds of problems in the world. One is that after you get a problem, you have no idea how to solve it. The other is that after you get a problem, the answer suddenly emerges in your mind."

Yu Man endured her gaze and her smile.

The blackbird continued, "In your opinion, what kind of question is 'Who am I'?"

Just as the other party said, Yu Man actually had a few answers.

only--

"Eel, reason will question your first instincts. This is the shackles of hesitation that imprison human progress."

The blackbird calmly pointed directly at Yu Man's heart and narrated calmly—

"Thus, humanity, burdened with too much intellectual waste, becomes too heavy to possess wings to carry it far."

Yu Man pressed his temples. "You really are my Lao Deng, right? That's my first instinct."

The blackbird choked.

After coughing for a long time, he corrected his words with a hoarse voice and a red face.

"Ahem—our first instinct can sometimes lead us to destruction... This is also the main reason for human death. So, thinking can help us find the answer. Think, eel, think."

Yu Man had several answers, but this matter was still too weird.

"Any hint?" asked the eel.

"Well—thank you for reading my little poem."

"……All right."

I guess I know.

Yu Man immediately wanted to find an accomplice for help, and also wanted to escape temporarily: "Well, can I go offline and talk to someone?"

"Of course, no problem. I'll wait here for you, Eel. After all, I'm broke and can't afford the bill, so I'll definitely wait for you."

"Okay—Xiaobing, help me deal with this literary riddler first."

Yu Man logged out as if fleeing from danger.

Xiaobing, who was left nibbling at the biscuits, looked up in confusion and found herself as if abandoned in the abyss.

Blackbird looked at her with a fond smile and began chatting in the Old World language: "Ice Prison Dragon, you look so young... Hello, Endless Winter."

“…Hello?”

But Blackbird's smile was tinged with sadness: "Right now, you don't know what the future will be like, you just enjoy the shining present."

"……what?"

"Life - Ice Prison Dragon, do you know what life is?" Blackbird spoke for no apparent reason while looking into the distance.

"...Just going out to play with big brother?" Xiaobing tried to answer.

"No, it's you in the distant future—the things you still have to experience while you wait for the past that will never come back."

……

Yu Man logged off and returned to reality.

This startled Senior Cat, who was concentrating on watching the game.

"...Xiao, Xiaoman? Did your account get blocked? Why are you logging off at this hour?"

"I went to talk to the blog owner, and he was fucking weird."

Senior Cat breathed a sigh of relief, as long as his account was not banned.

It shook its body slightly, jumped onto the table, bit the pocket of the snack, and brought it back to Yu Man.

By the way, it also pulled the gauze curtain to prevent the warm sun from burning Yu Man's eyes, which had not yet adapted to the environment.

It said: "Let your cat senior share your burden, Xiaoman, tell me."

"I suspect that person is one of the 'Three Secrets.'" Yu Man said straight to the point.

“…Is there such a thing?”

"After all, after searching the entire world, we're the only two people who have cleared the level, right?"

Senior Cat did not comment, but just asked Yu Man to tell the whole story.

As the thread of events became clear, it remained silent for a long time.

"It sounds like 'time,' one of the 'three secrets.' Rather, it seems she's already written the answer directly to you... with the title of that poem."

"'Illusory Nest'... Lao Huo told me that the earliest game manager born from the World Tree of Time was 'Time', but I didn't know much about them last week..."

The cat elder nodded, this was exactly the area it was familiar with.

And, it was very happy to share: "It is a god in reality, responsible for stopping the passage of time."

"……what?"