Four Split Personalities

To tell the truth, Motan at this moment was feeling quite conflicted...

There was no ’person’ in the cell, but some kind of strange and bizarre traces, something he had already heard about from Yu Chen and Tero. He had been prepared and speculated about the current situation.

If the monster that resembled himself was indeed ’that side’s’ true form, then it shouldn’t possibly exist in the Realm of Innocence at this time point where he was still online. As for why its offline state wasn’t like other common players, leaving no trace, but instead was a twisted mass of black mist, Motan had no clue. However, he knew that if that was indeed a sort of ’self,’ nothing would be too strange, no matter what happened.

But he still harbored a glimmer of hope.

What if the monster Yu Chen and the others had caught wasn’t ’himself’?

What if the fragmented memories of a few hours each day were just a side effect of his atypical personality split?

What if everything was an overreaction, and the personality that had Disappeared never actually reappeared?

If that were the case, the appearance and Dissipation of the monster would likely have no relation to him.

Deep down, Motan had always clung to that hope.

Yet, when he saw that clearly inanimate black mist, that hope had shattered by half.

At least for the current time point, he and the other did not coexist.

He was truly conflicted. On one hand, he hoped to find that ’fourth self’ that might exist in the game, to get a firm grip on its location, status, and movements and to control and monitor it. On the other hand, he also wished all this was just an illusion and hypothesis, that he was simply overthinking things.

Perhaps at other times he wouldn’t have thought this way, but the current Motan, dubbed Hei Fan, was an ordinary person capable of naivety, cowardice, hesitation, and avoidance. Thus, right from the beginning, he was conflicted.

He didn’t want to admit that disastrous existence had returned, yet he hoped the oppressive stone hanging over his heart would quickly settle. Every time he pondered this, it was especially torturous.

But time waits for no one. Until this moment, the fog that had been lurking in his heart since he fell into the Realm of Innocence had already been lifted a corner.

[That is, if there indeed is a connection between the two...]

Motan sighed softly, his gaze complexly fixed on the fence opposite, at the slowly swirling black mist that showed no sign of life, trying to discern something from within.

But he discerned nothing...

Whether familiarity or fear, none of the emotions he thought he might feel were there.

It was just an unidentified mass of black mist, at least for the moment.

"Motan..."

Yu Chen, standing a little to the back, silently advanced half a step, Gently tugged at Motan’s sleeve, and asked in a somewhat uneasy, low voice, "Are you okay?"

The latter subconsciously nodded and then offered a rather pale smile, shrugging, "I’m fine, just a bit worried about being possessed by that monster you guys talked about."

He had not concealed his own voice, so Cordova, who was pressed close to the fence looking in, immediately turned around and retorted, "That’s classic adolescence paranoia, a persecution complex!"

"You’re the one with the complex! Didn’t catch a single word you said!"

Motan rolled his eyes at Cordova, quickly adjusting his state to feel almost as usual.

But the girl beside him still looked at him apprehensively. Even though she didn’t know why, Yu Chen suddenly felt that ’Motan seemed very scared.’ And it certainly wasn’t for the ’possession’ he just mentioned. It was a genuine fear, akin to the reaction of a patient’s family member as they wait, anxious and agitated, to hear whether the news the doctor brings is a false alarm or bad tidings, away from the ears of others....

Now that she thought about it, starting from when she first informed Motan of the monster’s existence, his reaction had been abnormal. Though she hadn’t noticed anything amiss in the messages from her friend at that time, Yu Chen didn’t really understand him back then. Looking back now, she felt like something was off.

’I’m a bit confused, is that monster still locked up by you guys?’

’When it was in human form before, approximately what time was it? Do you remember?’

’It’s pretty interesting. I wonder how much it resembles me, take a closer look next time~’

Yu Chen quietly scrolled through her message history with Motan, looking thoughtful, but in the end, she chose not to say or ask anything. She just stood quietly where she was, watching the black mist in the cell with Motan.

As of now, it seemed she had plenty to speculate and imagine...

But the girl just pursed her lips, deciding not to think about those things anymore.

After all, she didn’t need to, and neither did he.

A moment later...

"Anyway, this thing... there’s no way it could be a person, right?"

Cordova sat in front of the fence, looking puzzled, his cheeks puffed out as he blew a few breaths at the black mist inside, then turned his head and shrugged, "Let’s not start on who it resembles, it doesn’t even have a human shape! April Fool’s is next month, aren’t you guys just bored and messing with me?"