Chapter 29

She was determined to save her—Aiwen would not give up. She had found a breakthrough: the thirteenth floor in the dream, specifically the innermost room of the seventh suite. That was where she had installed a secret exit within the space.

Because the H-Code system’s monitoring was so rigorous and its code sequences immutable, any intrusive plug-in with a differing sequence would be swiftly detected. Therefore, her design had to closely mimic the original sequence to pass unnoticed. Yet, within the dream, the opportunity to escape through the port existed only for a fleeting moment; if Xiao-ya Xian missed it, she would have to begin again.

She failed the first time, and the second as well. In fact, the hint had appeared from the moment she picked up the necklace, but Xiao-ya Xian had not understood its significance before the nightmare dragged her back into the death loop.

Her sole breakthrough lay in entering room 1307, but the difficulty was that with every reset, Xiao-ya lost all memory…

Perhaps the hint was not clear enough. Should she insert herself into the nightmare space in order to rescue Xiao-ya Xian? But by doing so, Aiwen would also lose her own memory. She dared not take such a risk; if even she were trapped, how could she ever lead Xiao-ya Xian back to reality? There had to be another way. Aiwen racked her brains, searching for a solution…

Nightmare Space—

At that moment, Xiao-ya Xian awoke once more. The terror from before still lingered in her mind, though she could not recall its cause. Her forehead was slick with sweat—was it from the burning sunlight, or from fear? She could not tell; perhaps it was half and half.

Groggy, she realized she was clutching something in her hand. She opened her palm to discover a necklace. She was puzzled, unsure why she held such an item. When had she picked it up? She had forgotten again. Each time she tried to remember, a headache set in.

Everything before her felt strangely familiar, as if she had seen it all before, as though endlessly repeated…

She asked her younger brother, Xiao Hao, where they were going. The events unfolded much as before, with little variation. After getting out of Mrs. Lin’s car, the three of them headed to the property management office, where someone was supposed to guide them to view the apartments—but this time, no one did.

Xiao-ya Xian’s father simply received three keys, and the three of them proceeded directly to the corresponding floors to look at potential units. There were three suites to choose from, and as always, they first went up to the thirteenth floor via the elevator.

Climbing the stairs to the tenth floor, Xiao-ya Xian became separated from her family; they moved too quickly and did not wait for her. She felt something was off. Even in her confusion, she sensed that nothing made sense: why did the elevator only stop at the thirteenth floor? Why could her father climb the stairs faster than she could? Why did Xiao Hao seem smarter than usual?

At last, Xiao-ya Xian reached the thirteenth floor. She went through the fire escape door into a long corridor. She tried the doors of every suite; only the seventh would open. She entered, and that voice sounded again. She felt as though she had heard it many times, but only in the midst of the event did she have such an impression.

Suddenly, the necklace in her hand began to glow. Though the innermost room was shrouded in darkness, the pendant flickered like a signal light. What was it trying to tell her?

“Xiao-ya! Where have you gone?” someone called out from outside, the voice resembling her father, Shi-qiang Xian.

“Big sis, are you up here? Are you on the thirteenth floor?” It was Xiao Hao’s voice.

Hearing them, she hurried over. Following their voices, she found them waiting by the elevator.

“Where did you go? We’ve been waiting for ages,” Shi-qiang Xian asked.

Stammering, she could not really explain. “I… couldn’t find you, so I wandered around nearby for a bit.”

“What’s there to wander? The apartments we’re viewing are all on the upper floors,” Xiao Hao said to her.

Soon, the elevator arrived, and the doors opened. They stepped inside, and the doors closed. After a long moment—yet she noticed the elevator had not ascended at all, still stopped on the same floor. The doors opened again, and they stepped out, believing they had gone up several floors, unaware that they were still on the thirteenth.

They wandered the thirteenth floor, and when they returned to the previous corridor, the long hallway had transformed into a maze of tangled passages…

“I’ll check over there,” Xiao Hao said, noticing nothing amiss. Shi-qiang Xian followed, both acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary, oblivious to the labyrinthine corridor.

But Xiao-ya Xian saw everything clearly and was horrified. She tried to call the two back, but they had already disappeared. Where on earth was she? Panic and confusion overwhelmed her.

Shi-qiang Xian and Xiao Hao had vanished, leaving Xiao-ya Xian alone, lost in the corridor maze. She had no idea which way to go. Her consciousness once again became lost in the labyrinth of the nightmare space—

The necklace in Xiao-ya Xian’s hand transmitted her consciousness’s location to Aiwen, who finally sensed her presence within the nightmare space. Her plugin functioned like a GPRS locator, instantly locking onto Xiao-ya Xian’s exact position.

She discovered that Xiao-ya Xian’s consciousness was in an even deeper layer of the nightmare space—the maze-like corridor in the dream.

Within the labyrinth, a shadow suddenly darted before Xiao-ya Xian’s eyes. She followed. This time, her vision was no longer hazy, but inexplicably clear.

The figure she saw did not resemble Shi-qiang Xian or Xiao Hao, yet it was uncannily familiar. It moved quickly, even running, but Xiao-ya Xian managed to keep up. The figure seemed to be guiding her somewhere.

She tracked it to a room whose door stood open. Peering inside, she could see straight through to the balcony.

Why the balcony again? Every time she encountered a balcony, ill fortune followed—she was certain of this, though the reason eluded her.

She stepped forward cautiously, glancing about, but the figure was nowhere to be seen. She approached the balcony but dared not get too close, a deep fear holding her back.

Yet, sounds came from beyond the balcony, indistinct and unclear. She crept forward; the noise resembled droplets of water—was it raining? She looked up; the sunlight was blinding. How could it be rain? Was someone watering the plants below, or was there a leak above? Curiosity took hold. The dripping came slow and steady, as if the world had slowed to half-speed.

Where was the sound coming from? It was strange. She moved closer, nearly pressing against the balcony railing. Suddenly, someone shoved her hard from behind. She whirled around, reacting quickly enough to seize the assailant’s hand—and to her shock, she found herself staring at her own face!

Two Xiao-ya Xians—

Stunned, Xiao-ya Xian could barely react. Once more, she was shoved toward the balcony, but she clung to the other’s arm. If she fell, the other would fall as well! All along she had believed it was Jason who pushed her, but now she understood—it was herself.

Why was there another her here? In that instant, her memories returned. She remembered cycling through the loop three times, and this time was different—more complex, especially with the multi-channel labyrinth corridor. Even if she wasn’t pushed off the balcony, escaping the labyrinth would be nearly impossible. What should she do?

Before she could think further, the other Xiao-ya Xian forced her over the balcony, but she held on tight, and together they tumbled over the edge!

Darkness engulfed her once again—another cycle began.

But this time, it was different. When she opened her eyes, there was no sunlight, nor was she in the car.

Looking around, she found herself in the corridor maze—this time, she had not lost her memory!

How could this be? Do the cycles progress? The starting point had changed; she was no longer at the beginning.

What she did not know was that this was because Aiwen had located her, so the loop’s starting point had locked onto the thirteenth floor. Though the labyrinth was now more complex, many of the repetitive events had been omitted.

The necklace in Xiao-ya Xian’s hand flashed brightly. Instinctively, she felt Aiwen was sending her a signal. How would Aiwen save her? At this moment, she recalled how she once desired to stay in her sweet dreams, but now, she longed for nothing more than to return to reality. She would rather reside in Aiwen’s code system than remain here a moment longer—anything was better than the nightmare. She had had enough!