Published at 8th of October 2024 3:14 am

Chapter 1459: Jackpot

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The grand prize.

He was calling for help.

As Lin Sanjiu sat on the ground, her gaze shifted toward the two palm trees in front of her, and she gained a deeper understanding of her ability to traverse dimensional spaces. Although she had already arrived at her destination on the second floor, just before she got there, she heard the grand prize’s voice. Instinctively drawn towards the voice, she moved towards it, causing her to disappear from the second-floor surface and step into the void.

She pushed herself off the ground, her legs trembling uncontrollably as if they were about to give out.

“I’ll try again,” Lin Sanjiu muttered. “Maybe I’ll hear him again.”

“Who did you hear?” the Life Coach asked, looking as puzzled as the other humanoid Special Items.

As her set destination loomed just a step away, she came to a realization: the closer she got to her destination, the more she felt in control of the process of traversing space. Uncertain of the extent of her influence, she wondered about the multitude of worlds and spaces she might encounter within this step. Whether she would have the opportunity to revisit the space where the grand prize awaited, Lin Sanjiu could only leave it to chance.

She knew she needed more exploration and understanding to master it effortlessly, like Advaita. But right now, Lin Sanjiu could barely stand firm.

Just as she was about to move, Mrs. Manas said, “I think you should hold off on trying again for a while.”

Lin Sanjiu didn’t respond and slowly lifted her foot.

“You know it too, don’t you?” Mrs. Manas continued. “Traversing a series of dimensions and spaces in an instant… The impact it has on your mind and consciousness—no, on the mind and consciousness of any normal person—is too great. Last time, it took you half a minute longer to regain your perception of reality than the previous time.”

Of course, she knew. During the fall, Lin Sanjiu was plunged into a lengthy illusion. It seemed as if she had turned into a mouse, being pursued without knowing by whom. In her panic, she searched for an exit, endlessly running and searching while the chaser was always just a few steps behind. Simultaneously, she could vividly feel her human body falling onto the grass, breathing in and out. Each breath felt like it stretched on for days in her mind but only lasted half a second in her physical reality.

When she regained consciousness, she realized the illusion lasted merely seconds. The humanoid Special Items hadn’t even noticed anything amiss with her. However, the feeling of her mind and body being torn apart was something she never wanted to experience again in her lifetime.

“I don’t know how Advaita continuously traversed through space without side effects, but you can’t, at least not yet,” Mrs. Manas said. “Once your perception of reality and self is impacted and you can’t maintain cognition, what will you become? A schizophrenic.”

Lin Sanjiu wanted to step down. Every minute that passed was another sixty seconds that she was failing the grand prize.

She finally set her foot down, deciding not to use the space-traveling ability.

“I need to save Ji Shanqing,” Lin Sanjiu whispered to the humanoid Special Items around her. “I heard his plea for help while I was traversing. I think he’s in this direction… I turned towards him, and that’s when I fell.”

Repeating her reasoning out loud was good for reinforcing her own understanding and helping her grasp reality.

“Hey, then why did you fall from mid-air and not appear where Ji Shanqing is?” the Life Coach inquired. “Or at least somewhere along the path to where Ji Shanqing is?”

This simple question stumped Lin Sanjiu. The answer might be that the distance was too great, or she lacked the strength, but neither seemed right. Distance could be broken into sections, like when she “walked” to the second floor and appeared beside the staircase once. Not considering her mental state, though she was tired, she wasn’t completely drained.

After hesitating for a while, Lin Sanjiu replied, “I think the reason I successfully reached the second floor is that I knew the way… No, to be precise, I knew the positional relationship between myself and the target location. So, regardless of how many layers of space and worlds I pass through, I can still reach the second floor.”

However, she fell out despite moving toward Ji Shanqing because she didn’t know her positional relationship with him and had no reference to grasp onto.

The Life Coach sighed. “That was close. It’s fortunate you first reached the second floor, your target location, before changing direction.”

“How so?”

“Based on what you said, if you had changed your direction before reaching your destination, and you deviated from your original path, it’s uncertain whether you could’ve returned,” the Life Coach explained. “Luckily, you completed the previous path. You instinctively wanted to traverse space but without a specific destination. That’s why you fell out near your previous target and not from some weird place.”

This was something Lin Sanjiu hadn’t considered before.

She recalled and reorganized the sequence of events. After hearing the grand prize’s voice, she immediately appeared on the second floor. She wanted to trace back to the source of the voice quickly, so she left this space and, indeed, didn’t have a target location in mind…

She shuddered involuntarily.

“Furthermore, whether you fell back into this space due to luck or because that’s how the ability is designed, I’m not sure,” the Life Coach said with a hint of lingering fear. “What if you had fallen into the innards of a pigeon? Would you kill the pigeon, or would the pigeon kill you? If you fell into a song, would you become part of the song? Would the name ‘Lin Sanjiu’ simply vanish?”

Cold sweat formed on Lin Sanjiu’s back.

This ability was as astonishing as it was dangerous. It was like she was a child who’d gotten a hold of nuclear weapons, utterly unaware of the potential consequences of her actions.

“Advaita’s continuous space traversal probably involves some other factor or tool,” she murmured. “She must have something or some ability that helps her pinpoint the target location and grasp reality, preventing her from getting mentally fragmented or lost in the multiple dimensions.”

“You must be extremely cautious the next time you traverse spaces,” the Life Coach said.

Lin Sanjiu gave a bitter smile. Her mental state felt unsteady, like someone who had just disembarked from a rocking ship. She wasn’t sure when she’d be ready to attempt it again.

However, on further thought, she realized that her current inability to traverse space didn’t mean she couldn’t still rescue the grand prize.

She had fallen when she turned towards the source of the grand prize’s voice, which meant the direction she was facing was where the grand prize was. She was unsure of the distance, but even if she had to swim across rivers or seas and tear down every obstructing wall, she was determined to maintain this direction. By walking straight ahead, she believed she would eventually find him.

“We should get moving,” she said, not wanting to waste any time. Even though she was exhausted from the day’s events, she gestured for the Artist and Caster to turn back into cards for the journey.

Caster grumbled, “I don’t like being stored away; it feels like I’m missing pieces,” but still transformed into a card alongside the Artist and was stored in the card inventory.

Although the apartment wall wasn’t far ahead, Lin Sanjiu wasn’t keen on causing a scene by tearing it down. She knew the layout of the apartment. All she had to do was pry the door open and climb out of a window. Once she resolved to walk straight, she would do so without deviating. She figured taking a detour outside might cause her to drift off course, even if just slightly, which could lead to her going astray in the long run.

Being careful of Advaita, who might still be searching for her, Lin Sanjiu’s movements were deliberately quiet, inevitably slowing her down. Although she felt anxious, there was little she could do. After exiting the apartment building, she was somewhat lucky, managing to weave through several alleys and gaps between buildings. Occasionally, she had to climb over low walls or fences, but she did so without making much noise.

The Life Coach tried his best to follow her. True to his nature, he would occasionally shout, “Keep it up! You can do it!” After sufficiently motivating her, he seemed to remember something. “Oh, what was that other thing?”

While keeping track of her direction, Lin Sanjiu replied, “I just have a vague idea about it. I haven’t tried it out yet.”

“What is it roughly?” The Life Coach, being curious, hastened his steps on the sidewalk to catch up with her, patting her shoulder. “Can you try it now?”

Lin Sanjiu considered this and thought it would be possible. As they approached an ice cream shop, she said without looking back, “I’ll give it a shot. But keep your voice down. Don’t shout.”

“Why would I shou—”

Before the Life Coach could finish, a face suddenly appeared from the ice cream shop’s empty, glassless window. The face zoomed in, eyes and mouth wide open in shock. The Life Coach couldn’t help but let out a startled yelp.

The face, which belonged to Caster, looked even more panicked. “Ah?”

“Didn’t I tell you to be quiet?” Lin Sanjiu said, displaying the card in her hand. “Advaita used this trick in the mall, making bodies and humanoid figures spring out from various locations to attack. I don’t have actual bodies, so I used humanoid figures.”

Caster’s face turned, revealing an elongated neck. “Where’s my body?”

“You’ll have it when you go back,” Lin Sanjiu replied as she deactivated the ability, causing Caster to retreat and disappear behind the display window.

“That’s quite a useful combat tactic,” the Life Coach said, recovering from his shock. “But for her, this ability is even more valuable than [The Spirit of All Things]?”

Lin Sanjiu nodded, not particularly surprised. She maintained her pace and direction accurately as if measured with a ruler. As they ran, she whispered, “Because from a certain perspective, this ability is Advaita’s [Planar World].”

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