Quadruple split.

Chapter 2640 Boy and Girl

Chapter 2640 Boy and Girl (Part 6)
Cole Shulen has been having a lot of dreams lately.

Although ensuring sufficient and effective sleep and the ability to shield oneself from external factors, including dreams, are fundamental skills for a competent thief, he has been constantly trapped in those bizarre and fantastical dreams lately.

Of course, the word '困' is not actually accurate.

After all, even when Cole was still studying at the Palto Knight Academy, he could easily escape from a dream the moment he fell into it and return to a peaceful, efficient, and alert normal sleep.

Even though it's far less effective than the mage's meditation, this technique, which is easy to master, is enough for him to easily get rid of those dreams that have nothing to do with mental attacks.

So it's quite clear that the reason he's been plagued by nightmares lately is not simple.

Although it's not simple, it's actually quite easy to guess.

It goes without saying that it must have been a dream closely related to two girls.

That must be the dream that Cole Shulen longed for but could not have, a dream completely different from reality.

We must admit that this young man, who is not very old but is mature, steady and thoughtful, is a very, very, very self-disciplined person.

For example, except in special circumstances where there is a strong need, Cole has never touched alcohol.

This is not an easy task.

As the saying goes, "drowning one's sorrows in alcohol," regardless of whether it will only make one more sorrowful, since one is already somewhat troubled, one should at least try to drown one's sorrows in alcohol.

Even Mo Tan, when she's feeling particularly down, will ask the clever young master to go out for some barbecue and a few alcoholic drinks, whether it's a deep or shallow dose of alcohol.

But Cole doesn't water it, he never does.

Even though he had an uncle who nearly drowned him, even though his inner turmoil was no less than that of any alcoholic, even though he endured daily pressure from all sides, including himself, even though there were moments when he wanted to forget those complex and maddening sorrows—

He never considered using alcohol to numb himself.

This is one of the rare, but not too bizarre, ideas that Cole picked up from someone.

In other words, anything that can give you temporary relief but cannot make any substantial change to the situation is stupid, a hindrance, disgusting, and harmful in every way. So if you don't want to become a stupid, a hindrance, disgusting, and troublesome person, stay away from those things.

Admittedly, this perspective is somewhat extreme. After all, successful people like Darian Diesel and Luca Tiffello occasionally enjoy a drink, but the disciplined Cole truly abstains from alcohol completely to ensure he remains sober at all times.

However, the more such a person is, the harder it is for them to cope when faced with problems that are difficult to solve using conventional methods.

Their thoughts become very complex, and even when they are mostly clear-headed, they are prone to overthinking, that is, they think about things all day long.

After that... I started having dreams about it at night.

In the beginning, things were fine. Almost every time, Cole would fall into a deep sleep without hesitation after realizing that he was in a dream, without being disturbed.

Things began to change after someone announced that they were ready to leave the Free City.

Cole Shulen was never a slow-witted person; in fact, those slow-witted, wooden men who mostly only appear in literary works could never have been brought out of Pato City by Mo Tan in the first place.

Therefore, Cole, who had long noticed a certain trend but was unable to effectively control it, knew very well why the girl made such a choice and the fact that the girl's choice was the theoretically optimal solution.

The reason is simple: both Cole and Estelle unconditionally believe in their master. In other words, if their master promised to resurrect their companions, then he must be able to.

Perhaps they didn't think too much about it at first, but slowly...

[Woo——]

In the midst of chaos, Cole Shulen abruptly interrupted his thoughts.

He was too tired; he didn't want to think about it anymore.

However, the more he thought about it, the more the fragments of dreams that had been troubling him during this time surged forth like a geyser, flashing past his tightly closed eyes.

In one of her dreams, the girl did not die.

In one of my dreams, the girl didn't leave.

Occasionally, he would return to that rural college to chat and laugh with friends who hadn't betrayed him and companions who hadn't died, while secretly keeping an eye on another pair of close friends who should have been separated by death.

Occasionally, he would find himself in a church of the Sun Cult, holding someone's hand, making an eternal vow with that person under their blessing.

Occasionally, someone may change into someone else, but the vow remains the same.

Occasionally, my husband will suddenly appear out of nowhere and make a mess of everything.

Very occasionally, when I return home battered and bruised, exhausted, someone and someone else will greet me at the same time, playfully complaining about me and my husband.

Since when did Cole start to get rid of the dream more and more slowly, and his mind, which was already tense due to a lot of heavy tasks, became more and more tired.

Finally, on the day the girl left completely, the hazy dream turned into a hallucination, and even began to invade her daily life—

"Ugh."

Cole, lying on the ground, sighed, slowly opened his eyes, and a faint smile appeared on his lips: "You look beautiful today."

The elven girl kneeling beside him twitched her ears and nodded gently, saying, "Thank you."

"For a while, I couldn't even remember what you looked like."

Cole gazed at the face that haunted his dreams and said softly, "But lately, I've been dreaming about it a lot, so I've remembered it."

The girl frowned almost imperceptibly: "...Oh."

"Well, then, that's it."

Cole slowly raised his right hand and smiled, saying, "I really look forward to the day I can finally meet you."

The girl looked at him with some confusion: "Oh?"

Snapped--

The next second, amidst the increasingly rampant laughter of the two unscrupulous voyeurs, Cole Shulen resorted to the simplest and most direct method of self-awakening: slapping himself hard across the face.

"Eh?"

Lorna Moonshine, already somewhat bewildered and lost in thought by the other party's two seemingly random sentences, was then stunned.

"Eh?"

Cole himself was stunned. Under normal circumstances, as long as he gritted his teeth and slapped him like that, no matter how intoxicating the dream was, his thief instinct would bring him back to consciousness immediately and wake him from his daze.

Clearly, he felt he wasn't fully awake yet and was acutely aware that he had overslept.

Moreover, before he even spoke to Lorna, Cole had already tried several conventional methods of awakening, but to no avail. So, out of desperation, he resolutely took extreme measures and gave himself a severe beating.

What's frightening is that even the biggest pressure tactics were useless.

What's even more terrifying is that the big pressure is 100% effective.

"..."

Cole stared blankly at the face in front of him, which was paler than he remembered, but too real to be true. His eyes lost their luster amidst the hysterical laughter of the two unscrupulous voyeurs.

"Are you ok?"

Realizing what had happened, Lorna lowered her eyes and gently pressed her right hand against Cole's cheek: "You're not dreaming."

"Luo...Na?"

Cole stammered out the other person's name, his voice trembling, and placed his hand over the other person's cold, slender hand. His vision blurred instantly.

Then, he felt a slight coolness on his other cheek, as if something soft had gently 'nudged' him. It took him a full half minute to realize that it seemed, probably, possibly, or should have been a kiss.

Then, almost losing consciousness again, he noticed that he seemed to be held tightly in the other person's arms. At the same time, he heard a girl's gentle murmur in his ear—

"Thank you, Cole."

"Thank you for not giving up on me until the very last moment."

"Thank you for not disliking me at all for my hideous and grotesque appearance after I was killed."

"Thank you for following Mr. Societies and working so hard for him so that I could come back."

"Thank you for never forgetting me."

"Thank you for dreaming about me."

"Thank you too... for liking me all this time."

"..."

Gently cupping Cole's face, Lorna revealed for the first time a smile that was exactly the same as when she was alive, even more gentle and vibrant. Then, amidst the screams and jeers of the two unscrupulous voyeurs, she lightly kissed Cole's other cheek.

Cole stood frozen in the other's arms for a long time, as if petrified. Finally, he gradually came to his senses, took a deep breath, and hugged his first love, whom he had been longing for, and whispered, "...Welcome back."

"Ah."

As she slowly closed her eyes and leaned on Cole's shoulder, Lorna murmured as if in a dream, "I'm back."

"I'm not dreaming, am I?"

Cole closed his eyes and whispered, "If I find out it's all a dream later, I'll cry."

"You've already started crying."

Lorna rubbed against his shoulder and murmured, "When I kissed you just now, it was salty."

"..."

Cole paused slightly, then smiled wryly, "So it turns out I'm just more easily embarrassed?"

"do not know."

Rona shook her head, surrendering her weight entirely to the other person, and said dreamily, "I want to sleep for a while. Although I don't need to sleep, if it's now... I feel like I can get a good night's sleep."

"it is good."

As he picked Lorna up in his arms, Cole walked slowly toward the warm grove of trees not far away, chuckling softly, "I'll be watching from the side."

"Hmm...you need to stay here and watch."

"Was it an order?"

"Otherwise, I might not be able to sleep well."

"it is good."

"besides……"

"what?"

I have no intention of becoming your lover.

"Uh……"

"..."

"Lorna?"

"..."

The girl, who didn't need to sleep, didn't answer. She simply closed her eyes peacefully, leaning against the boy who was destined to protect her and cherish her forever, and briefly lost consciousness.

……

A moment later
"Then, I'll leave first."

In the [Barrier - Infinite Circuit], Mo Tan, who had slid off the chair, stretched and patted Shuang Ye on the head: "Is it okay to leave Rona in your hands?"

"Yes, I'm quite interested in her physical condition."

Futaba nodded slightly, then turned to glance at the girl nestled in the boy's arms, sleeping peacefully, in the mirror: "Although I was a little indignant for Fanye, well... never mind."

"Ha, they're a perfect match, one willing to hit and the other willing to be hit, what right do you, a monster, have to stand up for them?"

Mo Tan grinned and said happily, "Please give a good word to Leisa, Cole, and the cholera group for me."

“I will tell them that you ran away because I forced you to take responsibility.”

Futaba showed Motan her beautiful, long middle finger, then said seriously, "I will take over three blocks centered on Bella Street within three months. After that, [Clown Card] should have a relatively long period of dormancy. Of course... that's just on the surface. You should know very well that once you have enough space, many things will become easier and more discreet."

Mo Tan blinked and asked curiously, "So how did you manage to take over three city blocks?"

"Because Soren is willing to give me face, and because the Queen of Hearts is the young lady of the [Angel of Death]."

Futaba chuckled lightly and said in a cheerful tone, "Only naive idealists would try to distance themselves from the shoulders of giants. Vanye is too naive. It was clearly something that the Queen of Hearts and the Angel of Death had tacitly agreed to long ago, yet she always respected the Queen of Hearts' agreement with her family, as if a virtuous and upright person could survive in the Free City."

Mo Tan shrugged and raised an eyebrow, saying, "Xiao Ai arrived much earlier than you."

"But she neither seized control of Bella Street early on, nor did she make the most of all the resources at her disposal to strengthen herself."

Shuangye twitched the corners of her mouth and said with a forced smile, "Aside from [Grey Money], which took the initiative to come to us for cooperation, Fanye's biggest achievement is actually just wiping out a small studio that isn't even a bug. In another neighborhood, it would probably have been wiped out long ago. This is really a bit of a disservice to her abilities."

Mo Tan smiled nonchalantly and said with a gentle smile, "Isn't it because I still have you?"

"Ha, I knew all along that you planned to have me take over this business."

Shuangye glanced at Motan and said indifferently, "Fine, in the beginning I played single-player and you played multiplayer, now you play single-player and I play multiplayer. Putting aside the fact that you've taken advantage of most of the benefits, it's fair."

"Look at what you're saying, I didn't really get much of a benefit from you."

"Have I stopped you from hugging and touching me inappropriately?"

"Is this considered cheap?"

"Otherwise what? Does it only count if you get me pregnant?"

"What a joke! In that case, you'd have to pay me an exorbitant fee for prostitution."

"If you looked like this outside of the game, then what you just said would have been a bit shameless."

"No way, I look amazing in real life, like an Armstrong boomerang."

That was quite explosive.

"gone."

"come back earlier."

"When?"

"Didn't I already tell you the time?"