“Alice, over these past few days, I’ve looked into your identity,” I said. “Not you as the visitor from the apocalypse, but the body you’re using right now.”

  “…Mm.”

  Alice kept sipping her sweet soy milk pouch, her expression unsurprised. As accomplices, it was only natural to dig into each other. She’d done her own snooping around my room, trying to learn more about me too.

  “You probably woke up in some hospital at first, right? Then you vanished from the ward almost immediately—using that spatial transfer ability you mentioned? But maybe you don’t know this yet: the original owner of this body was also named ‘Alice.’” I continued, watching her closely. “She was in a vegetative state for unknown reasons, comatose long before you arrived.”

  Her ears practically perked up; her attention sharpened instantly.

  Clearly, this was information she hadn’t known. I had her hooked.

  And the really important part was still coming.

  “I know a few well-connected people at university, so I asked them to look into it quietly. They only managed to pick up bits and pieces…” I said, gauging her reaction the whole time.

  Sure enough, coming from an apocalyptic world untouched by internet paranoia, she didn’t bat an eye at my “friends who know people” story. Encouraged, I pressed on: “…They said the reason the body’s original owner ended up in a vegetative state was something called ‘soul-loss syndrome’—a mysterious condition.”

  “Soul-loss syndrome…” She sounded both puzzled and enlightened at once.

  “I don’t know the exact details of what soul-loss syndrome is, only that a lot of people have fallen victim to it lately. The name got me thinking…” I paused for effect. “You’ve mentioned your soul being injured and needing time to recover. So—do you sense a second soul inside this body?”

  “I don’t feel anything,” she said, shaking her head. “Normally, a body without a soul would just die. But when I entered this one, it was still functioning normally—even though the soul seemed to have vanished long ago.”

  Her words amounted to an admission: she was soul-transmigrated.

  Perhaps because I’d given her new information, she opened up a little more: “For some reason, this body’s compatibility with me is extremely high—almost identical in appearance and build to my original one. If the original owner didn’t have her own identity in this world, I might have thought I’d brought my old body with me.”

  “In that case, isn’t there a possibility—” I finally showed my hand “—that you’ve always been from this world? That everything you remember as the apocalypse was just a long, terrible nightmare, and now you’ve finally woken up?”

  She answered without the slightest hesitation: “If it was all a dream, there’s no way to explain where my blessing power came from.”

  “You can’t use your blessing power right now—so how can you prove it ever existed?” I challenged deliberately.

  “Didn’t you mention it yourself earlier? I disappeared from the hospital ward using spatial transfer,” she countered.

  “That’s just hearsay. I trust what I see with my own eyes.”

  “…Fine.” She thought for a moment. “Right now, I should be able to use my blessing power just a little without damaging my soul further. Let me show you.”

  With that, she finished the rest of her sweet soy milk in one long pull and held up the empty pouch for me to see.

  I didn’t understand at first, but anticipation burned in my chest as I watched quietly.

  What happened next completely convinced me that her “blessing power” was real.

  She cradled the empty pouch in both hands, focusing intently on it. In the next instant, the small patch of space around the pouch rippled and distorted visibly—like the surface of a pond violently stirred by a stick.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  The distortion lasted only a heartbeat. When space smoothed out again, the pouch in her hands was suddenly full once more—brimming with sweet soy milk.

  Time had been reversed!

  Or… was it really time reversal? Or some similar but different phenomenon?

  What did this have to do with “spatial transfer”? Did her blessing power include more than one ability?

  Whatever the case, she had finally met—and exceeded—the expectations I’d carried for so long. I’d always known she was extraordinary, but only now, seeing it demonstrated so directly in front of me, did her uniqueness truly shine.

  To me, she was practically glowing.

  “I can’t reveal the core of my abilities to you,” she said seriously, “but as you’ve just seen, this is the best proof that what I’ve been through wasn’t a dream.”

  “After something like that, I have no choice but to believe you,” I admitted, genuinely impressed. Then I continued: “So what about another possibility: you’re still from this world, but your soul traveled to the apocalyptic era, forgot your true past there, and then came back here?”

  “Forgetting, huh…”

  I’d thrown it out half-heartedly, not expecting much, but she actually fell into deep thought.

  Was there a chance?

  After a moment, though, she shook her head again. “Your theory has a huge flaw. Why would two different eras produce two bodies so similar—even down to the exact same name?”

  I noted her odd reaction earlier and replied: “Maybe the apocalypse happened in a parallel world, and you and the original owner of this body are the same person from different realities. Or maybe the original owner was your mother—she gave birth to you after the apocalypse began, named you after herself, and the resemblance is simply because you’re mother and daughter.”

  “Leaving the first one aside—if it’s the second, wouldn’t that mean my future daughter grows up to become me, travels back to become my mother, and then gives birth to me?” She stared in disbelief, then shook her head frantically. “No, no—that kind of absurd causal loop only works if the future is fixed, but my whole goal is to change the future…”

  “You might think all these ideas are wild fantasy, but I’m serious—we have to consider them seriously.” I wasn’t joking. “Apocalypses, transmigration, anomalies, superpowers… which of those isn’t completely absurd? Compared to those, the possibilities I just raised aren’t actually that far-fetched, are they?”

  “…Maybe you have a point, but I still can’t believe it.” She stayed cautious. “Also, earlier you mentioned that ‘soul-loss syndrome’ has affected a lot of people…”

  “If you really did soul-travel from this era to the apocalypse and back, then soul-loss syndrome might be the mechanism that enabled your crossing. Which would mean other victims of soul-loss syndrome could have had their souls sent to the apocalyptic era too.” I laid out my reasoning. “Does that ring any bells for you?”

  “I never heard anything about soul-travel or crossing in the apocalyptic era,” she said firmly. “Besides, I was born and raised there. I may have forgotten a lot of my past, but I’m absolutely certain of that much.”

  “What do you mean by ‘forgotten’?” I felt like I’d just grabbed something crucial and pressed further. “If we want to check whether soul-loss patients crossed to the apocalypse, it’s simple: just tell me the names of people you knew back then, and we can cross-reference them against records of soul-loss victims.”

  “Unfortunately, even their names…I can’t remember clearly anymore…” She sighed. “And Z—you said we were parting ways today. Why are you talking like we’ll keep working together from now on?”

  After that, she fell silent.

  It looked like my “interview” hadn’t passed yet.

  I had no choice but to stay patient and stick to the plan. I kept walking with her until we reached the nearby aquarium.

  The Xianshui City Aquarium required tickets, and buying tickets meant showing ID. Needless to say, Alice had no ID on her—but since I was an adult accompanying a minor, I could buy both tickets myself.

  I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been to an aquarium; probably not since a class trip in elementary school. Stepping into the exhibition corridor felt like stepping back into childhood. Transparent glass walls lined both sides, filled with all kinds of marine life drifting lazily. The dim walkway shimmered with rippling light, creating a dreamy, romantic atmosphere.

  Alice followed close behind me, gazing curiously at the swimming creatures before finally asking: “Do you really need to show ID to get in here?”

  “Yeah, but it’s normal for someone your age not to have an ID yet. As long as I’m with you to buy the tickets, it’s no problem.” I kept demonstrating my usefulness. “There are plenty of places like this in society today.”

  She must have seen right through my intentions. In a gentle, almost pleading tone, she said: “Z, staying with me will only bring you misfortune.

  “Maybe you’re thinking that if something goes wrong, you can always back out later. But the negative effects I bring don’t fade that quickly. For example… are you still in contact with your friend?”

  She was probably referring to Chang’an. I answered: “After he came knocking last time, we only met once.”

  “Then even if my influence extends to the people around the people around me, he should already be fine by now,” she said with certainty. “But you’re different, Z. Today is only the fifth day we’ve known each other. Even if I leave right now, you’ll still have to wait just as long before the influence completely disappears. We can’t keep going like this.”

  “Why can’t I stay with you, but your friend could?” I shot back.

  She clearly hadn’t expected the question. “What?”

  “When you first told me about the apocalypse, you mentioned you had a friend. But during the chase by the ‘Great Demon,’ you couldn’t save them and ended up transferring here by accident instead.”

  I’d never forgotten a single word she’d said in front of me.

  “Or was that just something you said offhand—there never really was such a friend? And if there really was, why can’t I become your friend too?”