“Chen Mian.”
“Hmm?”
“I can't sleep...”
“Why?”
“I just can't sleep,” Louise repeated, her tone matter-of-fact. “It's too quiet around here. The moment I close my eyes, my mind starts racing with all kinds of messy thoughts.”
Chen Mian looked at her for a moment, then pushed open the door to his room. “Come in.”
“Okay!” Louise opened the door wider, stepping barefoot onto the hallway floor as she followed him into the room.
Chen Mian walked over to the game console and pressed the power button. A familiar pixelated screen popped up. “Want to play?”
Louise squatted in front of the screen, intently watching the moving pixelated characters. “How do you play?”
Chen Mian briefly explained the controls and handed the joystick over to her.
Louise picked it up incredibly fast. After Chen Mian's brief explanation, she had already mastered the gameplay and was even pulling off all kinds of flashy moves.
Her gaming talent was probably equivalent to ten Lovikis.
“Go left.”
“But the right looks way more challenging.”
“It's too narrow. It's a complete dead end.”
“I can definitely make it.” Louise pursed her lips, pushing the joystick to the left and successfully navigating the narrow path. She turned her head, the corners of her mouth curling up slightly. “See? I made it.”
The two sat side by side in front of the game console, playing the game.
She seemed to have gotten addicted. After finishing one level, she immediately started the next, continuing until the words “GAME OVER” flashed on the screen. Only then did she return the joystick to its neutral position, tilting her head to look at him. “Any other games?”
Chen Mian pressed a button, switching the screen back to the main menu, and pulled up a fighting game. “This one.”
Louise played for a bit, then suddenly turned her head and asked in earnest, “Did we use to play games like this before?”
“We didn't have game consoles back then.”
“Then what did I do back then when I couldn't sleep?”
“You brewed magical potions.”
Louise blinked, the screen's glow reflecting in her violet-gold eyes. “For real?”
“For real. I'd pitch the ideas, and you'd do the brewing,” Chen Mian said with a smile after a brief thought.
Louise turned back to the screen after he finished speaking. However, instead of pressing the start button, she remained silent for a moment before asking softly, “Chen Mian, did I use to annoy you a lot back then too?”
“Yeah.”
“And did you find me annoying?”
Chen Mian glanced at her. “Not really.”
Louise turned her head to meet his gaze. “What about now?”
“Still fine.”
“So you don't find me annoying.” Louise nudged her chair closer to him, her shoulder almost brushing against his arm. “Then I'll stay a bit longer.”
The game console's screen was still glowing, but neither of them played anymore.
Chen Mian felt her lean in a bit closer. Her long silver-gray hair fell over, a few strands brushing against the back of his hand.
“Chen Mian,” her voice was much softer now. “Do you think I should be Keyins, or the Louise you know?”
“Those are just memories from different stages of your life. Whether you're Keyins or Louise, you're still you.”
She nodded, her violet-gold eyes staring at the screen. “But other than having a lot of knowledge added to my memory and my sudden boost in strength, I only remember my childhood. It feels like I took a nap, and suddenly everything changed.”
“So I'm wondering... if I wake up tomorrow, will the world have changed again?”
“It won't,” Chen Mian said calmly. “This isn't a dream, and I won't let that happen again.”
Louise fell silent for a moment, then gave a soft nod. “Mm, if you say so.”
She let go of the joystick, leaning her body slightly more toward Chen Mian. Her long silver-gray hair spilled across his shoulder and the back of his chair.
After leaning against him for a while,
“I'm sleepy.”
“If you're sleepy, go back to your room and sleep.”
“Then I'm not sleepy anymore.”
“Even with amnesia, you're still such a rascal...”
“This isn't being a rascal. Everything here is completely foreign to me right now—except you. Before I lost my memory, you must have been very important to me.” Louise stood up, slowly walked over to the bed, and sat down, the hem of her black robe draping over the edge of the mattress.
She leaned back, her long silver-gray hair spreading across the pillow. “If I really fall asleep, are you going to run off to sleep on the sofa?”
“...”
“It's no fun if you sneak away.”
“This is rather impolite of you, Miss Witch.”
“You're the one who woke me up, so deal with it.”
“You never would have done something like this in the past,” Chen Mian said helplessly.
“The past is the past. Right now, all I know is that I want to stay by your side.”
“Fine, I guess I owe you.”
“Pinky swear then.” As she spoke, Louise lay down on the bed and reached her hand out to him.
Chen Mian walked to the bedside and hooked his pinky with hers.
The corners of Louise's mouth curled up in a slightly mischievous smile. She pulled her hand back under the covers, scooted further inward, and slowly closed her eyes.
The room fell quiet for a while.
“Chen Mian.”
“Hmm?”
“When are you going to sleep?”
“When you fall asleep.”
“...” She rolled over, burying her face in his pillow, her voice muffled. “Fine, don't run off.”
“I won't.” Chen Mian looked down at her gradually relaxing body and the pair of black wings folded behind her back. He reached out to pull up the blanket, covering her exposed shoulder, then dimmed the lights and turned off the game console's screen before lying down on the bed beside her.
Louise's breathing had become steady, her long silver-gray hair splayed across the pillow.
After a moment, she rolled over, her hand groping around outside the edge of the blanket.
Chen Mian placed his hand in hers. Once she grabbed hold of it, she stopped moving.
Only after a long while did she fall into a deep sleep, her hand slowly relaxing its grip on Chen Mian's and resting limp by the pillow.
Chen Mian gently tucked her hand back under the blanket, looking at her peaceful sleeping face. “You're actually quite well-behaved once you're asleep.”
Lying on the bed, he opened the system panel.
【Current Apartment Level: Level 3】
【Number of Tenants: 3 (Met) Points Required for Upgrade: 5000 (Met)】
【Confirm upgrade apartment to Level 4? This upgrade will consume 5000 Points.】
Looking at the text, Chen Mian selected "Confirm" without any hesitation.
【Apartment Level Upgraded: Level 3 → Level 4.】
【Current Apartment Level: Level 4. Level 5 Unlock Conditions: Number of Tenants 4 + 8000 Points】
【Initial Quest 3 Completed! Magic Level increased by 10! Generating Magic Fishery! Generating Brewing Workshop!】
【Magic Fishery: Can cultivate any aquatic product (both freshwater and saltwater). Aquatic products have a chance to upgrade to premium-grade ingredients. Consuming them will enhance mana, and their growth cycle is significantly shortened.】
【Brewing Workshop: Various brewing facilities can be constructed by spending Points. The quality of brewed products is increased by 1 tier on their original basis, and the fermentation and aging cycles are significantly shortened.】
【Mana Garden, Magic Ranch, and Mana Orchard levels upgraded!】
【Current Magic Level: 155】 (Initial Quest 3 + Dungeon Ghost Quest)
【Unlock Initial Quest 5: Upgrade the apartment to Level 5 and ensure all tenants' Sense of Belonging reaches Level 4.】
【Current Tenant Sense of Belonging Levels: 001 Flora (Level 4), 002 Loviki (Level 4), 003 Louise (Level 4)】
The moonlight filtering through the curtains fell upon the pillow, illuminating Louise's face. A faint smile still lingered on her rosy lips.
Chen Mian closed the panel and watched the sleeping Louise beside him for a while.
As if sensing something, Louise rolled over in her sleep, nudging closer to him, the tips of her silver-gray hair brushing against his arm.
Chen Mian pulled up the blanket, re-covering Louise's shoulder where the cover had slipped down, before finally closing his eyes. “Good night, Louise.”
【Landlord's Diary: Louise is back. Even though she's lost her memory, she'll remember eventually. It's just that the old Louise, who used to be a total coward when it came to feelings, is acting a bit too bold now... It's fine. Once her memory returns, she'll probably shut herself away in embarrassment. The apartment has also upgraded to Level 4. Flora should be very happy now that we have the Brewing Workshop and the Magic Fishery. After our dungeon trip, Loviki is also close to breaking through to the Diamond Rank. Also, Luolin's cooking has improved a lot.】
Rate on N.U.
