Chapter 2944 - 1162: The Second Responsibility

Chapter 2944: Chapter 1162: The Second Responsibility

The passage of time often leaves people surprised.

New things suddenly grow into enormous entities, outdated concepts are tossed into the stacks of old papers in the blink of an eye, and that small bookstore one has wandered through their whole life is suddenly revealed to be a door.

The magical ability to contain ’all’ books was already quite shocking to Zheng Qing.

Now, the teacher tells Zheng Qing, San You Bookstore is a door.

A junction between the present world and the high-dimensional world.

This revelation filled Zheng Qing with a mix of fear and an inexplicable sense of pride—what’s so great about the high-dimensional world? I was learning to paint talismans on its doorstep when I was a child!

"How are they connected?"

The young wizard couldn’t help but ask, driven by curiosity.

He meticulously searched through his memories for images related to San You Bookstore, trying to find something ’high-dimensional,’ but apart from the sunlight scattering a small section of colorful shadows through the bookstore’s window, Zheng Qing couldn’t find any similarity between that small bookstore and the radiant place beyond the leaf boat.

"With your current level, understanding this question can indeed be quite challenging." The teacher pulled out a copy of the "Jade Box Records" and laid it open in front of the young wizard: "—You might try to extrapolate, as I just mentioned, ’books’ are the junction between the two-dimensional world and the three-dimensional world. How are they connected?"

How does the world within the book relate to the real world?

There are so many ways.

In just a blink, Zheng Qing thought of many methods—like making movies or animations of the book’s story; imagining the scenes in his mind; or directly seeking similar cases from the book’s story in reality, and so on.

All these methods revolve around a certain medium.

"Via a certain ’dimensional line’?" Zheng Qing’s tone carried some uncertainty: "For example, when I imagine the scenes from the book in my mind, it’s ’thinking’ that connects the world within the book with the real world..."

"Better than I imagined."

The teacher nodded in satisfaction: "Originally, I thought you would say it’s through ’humans’ as an intermediary. Yes, the difference between high-dimensional and low-dimensional lies in dimensional lines. Thus, the only possibility for them to intersect is through another dimensional line, a line that exists between existence and non-existence, able to penetrate both high-dimensional and low-dimensional realms."

"Virtual Dimension!" Zheng Qing shouted out the term from his memory—if he remembered correctly, ’thinking’ is a very famous virtual dimension.

The teacher raised his hand slightly, signaling the young man not to be so excited: "The junction where San You Bookstore is located is caused by some ’virtual dimensions’ unintentionally traversing different dimensions."

While speaking, he turned and reached out beyond the leaf boat to retrieve a beam of light, holding it in front of Zheng Qing: "—What do you see it as?"

The flow of light was as thin as a thread, almost transparent, yet emitted many colors all over, struggling between the teacher’s fingers like a lively little snake.

Zheng Qing recalled his earlier experience and hesitated: "... a time line? Um, a segment of a time line? What I mean is that it should be an incomplete cross-section..."

The young man felt at a loss for words, unsure how to describe his perception.

The teacher did not give the young man more opportunities to guess but provided an exact definition and a very detailed explanation: "This is a small possibility belonging to the future. In high-dimensional spacetime, the present, past, and future are made up of these intertwining possibilities. Every moment witnesses countless possibilities die while countless others are born. Before truly becoming ’reality,’ these possibilities, like schools of fish in the ocean, tear at, devour, and constantly merge with one another until the ’greatest possibility’ emerges... It’s like a shark that must swim tirelessly in the river of destiny, enduring wave after wave, or face being drowned by the grand tides of time. Now, if there’s an opportunity for this shark to bypass the cruel fight and appear directly in the present world, what consequences would that bring?"

Zheng Qing couldn’t help but shiver.

"The future possibilities reshaping our reality?" he answered in a small voice.

"Exactly."

The teacher nodded slightly, flicked his finger to send the ’small possibility’ back to the radiant realm beyond the leaf boat: "—These ’small possibilities’ are similar to thought; both are virtual dimensions. But unlike thought, they possess higher ’subjective agency,’ allowing them to penetrate the sturdy shell of the high-dimensional world and smuggle into the present world. San You Bookstore’s duty is to expel, suppress, or even annihilate these unpermitted ’small possibilities’."

Zheng Qing swallowed quietly.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed.

He struggled to smile, murmuring in a small voice: "... Teacher, I’m not being humble, but I can barely count as a small Side Door Legend. Can I really guard this door? I can’t even capture that ’small possibility!’ Wouldn’t it be more reliable if Vice Principal Ruoyu, Lady Shi Hui, or simply the relevant departments managed it?"

The teacher looked at him with a nuanced expression.

"I am indeed handing it over to the relevant departments." He wore a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, refraining from giving Zheng Qing a clearer explanation right away. Instead, he formed a spell with his hand and softly chanted: "—Swift!"

Multicolored lights surged explosively.

Zheng Qing squinted tight from the glare.

Once he sensed the darkness returning outside, he opened his eyes, only to find himself standing behind the window of San You Bookstore—the San You Bookstore on Buji Island.

The shop was crowded as always, shelves packed with books, yet no trace of the Yellow Flowered Cat.

Click.

Click, click.

The clock hanging on the wall opposite kept its second hand swinging back and forth between squares, echoing clicks, yet stubbornly refusing to advance even a single step.

Outside the window, the red and black that blocked the sky continued to envelop all of Buji Island, plunging the entire world into darkness. The massive colors that pierced the red and black, strands of silver-white starlight, were suspended in midair, completely immobile, exactly like Zheng Qing had seen in the vision.

The entire world had been paused.

"—Someone said that every tick of the clock records the footsteps of time moving forward, and at some points, a small step in time becomes a big step in destiny."

The teacher stood by the young man’s side, holding his shoulder, and they together looked out the window: "Just like now, we need to tread this step with extra caution. I’m pleased you mentioned the relevant departments earlier. That might be the second responsibility I’ll leave to you."