"This is!?"
Vibrant black, colorful white—the kind of colors only a client would dream up.
Multicolored black and white wove into a bizarrely splendid tapestry, like a galaxy intertwined with a starry sea, painting a fantastical dreamscape that resolved into perfect harmony.
"A dream? No, this isn't a dream."
Hakuto had experienced lucid dreams before, but his consciousness was never this sharp. Most crucially…
Looking down at his bare body, Hakuto's voice brimmed with barely contained excitement. "I don't have an exhibitionist streak."
The smirk creeping across his face slightly undermined his words.
Still, the situation was undeniably thrilling!
This bizarre, unknown scenario didn't spark fear in Hakuto but rather long-awaited excitement!
That was Hakuto.
If ghosts appeared in the real world, he wouldn't run—he'd eagerly approach them.
His curiosity and thirst for exploration rivaled the intellectuals in Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem who'd trade their lives for the universe's ultimate truth.
As for life and death? Did a lonely, mortgage-burdened young man care?
Maybe he'd become a ghost after death!
If ghosts followed human cognition, fueled by negative emotions, how many ghost kings would haunt modern society?
"Is this what they call a soul?"
Hakuto clenched his fist, examining a hand that felt both familiar and alien, then scanned his surroundings.
How to describe that subtle sensation?
It was like being wrapped in blue velvet, or glimpsing a starry sky amid a topsy-turvy kaleidoscope of light.
Ethereal and distant, it instinctively brought calm.
"This feeling…"
As galactic light flowed quietly, Hakuto wandered the mysterious space, faintly sensing a connection to it.
He felt he could control this space, but he didn't know how—or perhaps his power was lacking?
With no sense of direction or time, he explored until mental fatigue set in, yet he couldn't discern the space's nature.
At some point, a sensation like free-falling from the clouds hit him.
Bad news: Hakuto left the mysterious space.
Good news: This wasn't a one-time event.
The next night, by tracing that odd sensation, Hakuto re-entered the space, though he still found nothing.
During the day, under the caregiver's attentive care, Hakuto felt fine aside from the fracture's pain.
His mind and body felt heavy, but his heart was light—finally, he could rest!
A familiar colleague visited on behalf of the company to discuss some matters.
Technically, an accident on the way home from overtime counted as a workplace injury, and the company should bear some responsibility. But that was just theory.
Labor laws were a pipe dream for the working class. Surviving was hard enough—who had the time or energy to fight the company?
A bedridden man with a fracture and no family couldn't pursue a workplace injury claim.
Naturally, the company offered no compensation.
In a rare act of "generosity," the boss settled Hakuto's wages up to today.
The catch? Hakuto had to resign voluntarily.
Employers can't fire employees for illness or injury during a protected medical period, but if the employee quits, it's fair game.
Hakuto expected this.
He felt no ripples in his heart, even finding it slightly amusing.
The grind of constant overtime made this forced hospital stay feel like a luxury.
Two weeks passed in a flash.
White curtains swayed in the breeze, and Hakuto grew accustomed to the antiseptic smell. He lay on the crisp hospital bed.
For the first few days, he spent nearly every moment in the mysterious space, experimenting and exploring, but his soul's strength seemed too weak to elicit any response.
The only change was manifesting his hospital gown in the space, sparing him the embarrassment of wandering naked.
Being completely bare felt… odd, to say the least.
Realizing this, Hakuto stopped pouring all his energy into the space.
Hakuto only entered the mysterious space at night. During the day, he caught up on long-overdue anime series and classic shows, focusing on stabilizing his emotions and mental state.
Perhaps with a rested mind, he could trigger something?
After finishing Lycoris Recoil on a streaming platform, Hakuto opened the comment section, diving into it with relish.
"Honestly, the comment section is more entertaining than the show itself."
Thanking the high-end caregiver for peeling an apple, Hakuto watched the heated debates among different factions in the comments, joining the crowd of amused onlookers.
His take?
He's just a guy who watches anime. If it's good, he finishes it. If it's not, he drops it. No need for all the fuss.
Hakuto scrolled through comments for a good twenty minutes before returning to his anime watchlist, swiping through the screen.
"Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc, Tokyo Ghoul, Inuyasha, Dragon Ball… Which one first?" Hakuto didn't talk to himself, but his mind was always buzzing.
He hesitated briefly, but before he could decide, a sudden jolt hit his soul—an inexplicable ripple. Without reason, he knew: the mysterious space had changed.
Suppressing his excitement, Hakuto took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
Locking his phone and setting it beside his pillow, he closed his eyes, his soul tracing back to that distant, incomprehensible mysterious space with the ease of opening his childhood home's door.
A galaxy hung high in the untouchable distance, its glowing halo bathing the surroundings in an ethereal, serene light.
The moment the scene came into view, Hakuto's eyelids twitched. His brown-black eyes widened in unexpected shock.
There stood a dreamlike figure.
Her face was as delicate and adorable as a doll's, her sky-blue hair cascading behind her, accentuating her porcelain-pale skin like milk in a fine ceramic bowl—smooth and radiant, akin to the finest white jade.
Her flowing hair outlined a graceful, petite figure. Through her swaying bangs, a holy emerald gem glimmered on her forehead, its vortex-like allure drawing the eye to her forest-green pupils, which reflected a cool, composed hue.
At first glance, she seemed as pure and approachable as the girl next door, yet her beauty was so breathtaking it could haunt dreams. Her expressionless, doll-like face lent her an airy, ethereal quality.
Most crucially, remember Hakuto's state when he first entered the mysterious space?
He didn't know if he was a consciousness, a soul, or something else here, but regardless, external objects like clothes didn't come along.
So, her flawless, jade-like body was fully exposed before Hakuto.
In the silent space, he could almost hear his heartbeat quickening.
Not from seeing a naked beauty, but from the thrill of the mysterious space finally changing.
Ordinary objects without "deepened recognition" couldn't enter this space.
That meant the translucent crystal on her forehead was part of her, like a human's limbs or organs.
Coupled with her blue hair and green eyes, she was almost certainly not from Earth.
Hakuto's gaze deepened, his mind racing with thoughts. He stepped silently toward the blue-haired girl.
She stood motionless, her slightly youthful, flawless doll-like face devoid of expression.
Rather than cold, it was the quintessential "emotionless" archetype.
She looked drowsy, as if just waking from a dream.
Her slender fingers brushed her temple's soft hair, her poetic brows tinged with a captivating melancholy.
But soon, her long, curled lashes trembled—she seemed ready to drift back to sleep.
She appeared to think this was a dream.
"Um… hello?"
The sudden unfamiliar voice made her emerald eyes flicker with confusion. She slowly turned, tilting her head toward the sound.
Seeing Hakuto in his hospital gown, her cherry lips parted slightly, exuding an adorably dazed charm.
"Human…"
Her ethereal voice, like an orchid in a quiet valley, carried a hint of surprise and curiosity, as if puzzled.
"Human… why… not repulsive?"
Hm?
Her soft murmur was strikingly clear in the quiet space with just the two of them.
Hakuto raised an eyebrow. She wasn't human, as expected.
His face remained impassive, scrutinizing her with a serious gaze, though his eyes couldn't help but drift to her delicate collarbone, her graceful curves, and the mysterious allure of her lower body.
Her translucent, almost breakable skin glowed with a dazzling whiteness.
"Ahem, just to clarify, I don't know what this place is. The inability to bring clothes might be a rule of this space, so…"
Hakuto took a deep breath, calming his inner turmoil, and spoke evenly. "Maybe cover your key areas? You could use your hair or hands…"
More than her exquisite figure, what intrigued him was why he felt an instinctive fondness for her.
Not love at first sight or lust, but a tangible, natural closeness.
"Hm?"
His odd words made the girl tilt her head adorably, her green eyes showing just the right amount of confusion.
Then, belatedly looking down at her snow-white skin, she froze.
Her delicate face and pale skin slowly flushed an enticing pink.
Hakuto had warned her, and she sensed that strange closeness too, so she didn't attack him.
Covering herself was necessary, but even her hip-length hair couldn't hide much, and her small hands were even less effective at shielding her lower body.
The safest, most efficient method was, of course…
In a flash of speed, she vanished, leaving only a flutter of blue hair. Hakuto felt warmth approaching from behind.
So fast!
Before he could voice his amazement, soft, warm palms covered his eyes.
But the moment their bodies—or rather, soul-bodies—touched, both Hakuto and the girl froze. A flood of information surged like a dam breaking.
From her delicate hand, the girl merged into Hakuto's soul like a stream returning to the sea, easing the strange disconnection lingering in his soul.
In that instant, the dim stars in the summer-night-like mysterious space flared with profound light.
The girl, who had fused into Hakuto's soul, separated again.
Her once-calm, doll-like face was no longer serene, now filled with disbelief and shock.
Hakuto and the girl fell silent, staring at each other as the space's light dimmed.
Unlike before, she showed no trace of embarrassment, even as Hakuto's gaze lingered on her chest and lower body.
"So, how's the view?" Her voice remained clear and ethereal, but her tone had shifted entirely.
"Stunning. Absolutely gorgeous!" Hakuto answered honestly, his gaze unreserved, openly admiring her figure.
She looked like an AI-generated figure, too perfect for the real world!
"Ugh, talking to myself feels so weird…"
Their words overlapped perfectly. Hakuto and the girl raised their hands in unison, rubbing their chins.
PS: Time to test your otaku credentials—can you guess who she is?