After feeling the exaggerated consumption of [Hope] within him, Shu couldn't help but frown.
He had only intended to open a path, so he used a path-opening [Wish]. He hadn't expected that grasping the thing in his hand would instantly deplete a third of his [Wish] reserves.
These basic [Wishes]—like opening paths, becoming stronger, empowering, recovering, repairing, and other general concepts—Kiana and the others had provided him with quite a few.
However, these less potent [Wishes] only had a shelf life of about a day. Although Shu had several more powerful [Wishes], once those were used, it basically signaled that Shu had reached a point where he had to fight desperately.
And even those potent [Wishes] could only be preserved for about a week at most.
Fortunately, he wasn't alone right now. Joyce's [Wishes] were usable.
You ask when Shu verified this?
[From Joyce: Wants to know if what Shu is saying is true.]
Now you understand why Shu rolled his eyes at Joyce, right? This cyber-abacus was practically pressed against Shu's face.
But should he truthfully tell Joyce that his abilities required her help?
Otto hadn't said whether he could reveal his abilities to Joyce and her group if he encountered them.
See... even Otto couldn't be perfectly thorough. He ultimately missed a condition.
Having finished his internal monologue, Shu pulled Joyce into the gap he had created.
Beyond the multicolored blackness was, unsurprisingly, an expanse of iridescent white.
The intense white glare, strong enough to be called light pollution, made Shu squint. He had to raise a hand to shield his eyes to see the path ahead.
Fortunately, the path wasn't long. After just a few steps, Shu felt his feet land on something soft.
Shu snapped back to his senses. He had somehow appeared in a colorful room.
The emerald green floor was dotted with colorful little flowers. Models of flying birds hung from the sky-blue ceiling. The walls were painted with simple, child-like drawings of apple trees.
For a moment, Shu thought he had stumbled into a kindergarten, into some kind of playroom.
Joyce!
Shu quickly looked back, only to find Joyce standing behind him, her eyes fixated on the large clump of multicolored blackness he held in his hand.
Her gaze was like that of someone looking at a deeply cherished lover, full of longing and devotion, eyes practically glazing over...
Wait, has she broken?
Shu abruptly pulled his hand away from Joyce's, taking two wary steps back. "Joyce?"
Joyce didn't respond. Shu felt like she was about to drool.
"Joyce!" Shu raised his voice, simultaneously hiding the clump of multicolored blackness behind his back.
"Mm, I'm here... What's wrong?" Her line of sight obstructed, Joyce instantly snapped back, looking up at the guarded Shu.
Shu stared at her for a moment, then considered using [Hope] to give Joyce a thorough check-up, although he likely wouldn't find anything...
Suddenly, Shu's eyes widened in utter disbelief.
He lifted his hand, looking at himself.
Wait, where's my [Hope]?!!!
Now it was Shu's turn to freeze. He stood dazed before Joyce, still clutching the [Blackness] Joyce coveted, his eyes somewhat vacant as he stared ahead.
In reality, he was frantically searching within himself.
"Shu?" Joyce waved her hand in front of Shu's face. She wanted to pat him, but worried he might be "possessed by a demon" and that her touch might cause him to ascend on the spot.
Isn't that how those Shenzhou web novels go? Look at Shu's white windbreaker that resembled a long robe, and the weapon Shu used when entering the Great Homu Kingdom...
A simple, ancient Shenzhou longsword, and he could even fly on it...
Perhaps Shu really was one of those hidden cultivators from Shenzhou! Einstein kept saying those things were fake, but what fake thing could spawn so many derivative works!
But as she looked, Joyce's gaze drifted back to the black clump in Shu's hand.
She didn't understand cultivation systems. Based on her existing judgment, Shu was perfectly fine, merely in a dazed state due to shock.
Single-threaded humans were like that; when something too shocking happened, they would become dazed or fall into extreme emotional states.
Compared to a certain dragon... uh, the respected Dr. Tesla, who would fly into a rage whenever startled or shocked, Shu's self-control was already quite good.
These things Shu had to regulate himself. But the thing in Shu's hand, Joyce knew exactly what it was.
Solidified Imaginary Space!
Real! Tangible! Imaginary Space!
If she could bring this back... no, just study it thoroughly right here, as long as she could confirm it was indeed Imaginary Space, then many experiments regarding imaginary numbers could begin!
Then... spatial phase transfer technology, space jump technology, space folding technology...
Humanity would officially step into the sea of stars!!
But this was Shu's spoil of war...
What to do? This thing didn't seem very precious to Shu. Should she try to trick him out of it?
While Joyce was still agonizing, Shu had already recovered, staring at his palm with a grim expression.
Good news, [Hope] was still there.
Bad news, [Hope] seemed to be suppressed by something of a similar origin... somewhat like the difficulty in using abilities when empathizing with negative emotions.
Joyce said this was the children's dreamscape, and the settings originated from the children's worldview and cognition...
So, was it because these children now harbored hostility towards him?
A bit troublesome...
"Ahem, Shu." At this moment, Joyce, having mentally prepared herself, cleared her throat pointedly, her gaze drifting towards Shu. "That thing in your hand..."
Shu snapped back to attention, glanced down at it, then looked at Joyce who seemed to want to say something. He decisively tossed the clump into Joyce's arms.
He'd wanted to get rid of this thing for a while. Since Joyce wanted it, she could have it.
The current problem was... where was this place?
Only then did Shu begin to carefully examine his surroundings.
Click—
A very faint, crisp sound echoed in the room. Shu whipped his head around and saw a figure in a white lab coat tiptoeing, trying to escape.
Hmm... Purple hair, golden eyes, wearing a white lab coat...
Shu was dumbfounded.