"What... what will I forget?"
Lin Sanjiu could still hear the bickering between Yuan Xiangxi and Bohemia through the partially collapsed ceiling as they descended the stairs. Occasionally, there were thumping sounds as they stepped on the floor. But downstairs, it was quiet—Puppeteer leaned gently against the wall, and the glass jar seed weightless in his pale, slender fingers, making the candies inside rattle softly.
"Is it sothing recent or from the past?" she asked. "What type of thing will I forget?"
Puppeteer lowered his gaze, looking at the candy jar. After a mont, he said softly, "There are no limitations. You will forget whatever he selects, whether it's an experience, a certain color, or a skill. Once he chooses, it's lost."
When they were in the hospital's basent, she rembered that she had indeed eaten candy, but nothing happened. Did that candy make her forget sothing?
The whirring of J7's chanism as it turned its head between them, Bohemia's voice, the continuous rain outside... all retreated far, far away, leaving only Lin Sanjiu and her hazy, unreliable mories in her mind.
'What did I forget?'
Lin Sanjiu tried to recall her experiences, hoping to rember every person she knew and things she hadn't done yet—Reno and Rena, the twelve personalities, the grand prize left alone in the Data Stream Library, helping Magus find her body... Her eyebrows furrowed deeper and deeper until Puppeteer suddenly sneered, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"If you're able to rember, it doesn't count as losing it."
"Is it complete forgetting?" she pushed, her tone growing more urgent. "Like I never knew about it? If soone reminds or tries to hypnotize , will I be able to recall it? With Magus's proficiency in Higher Consciousness. could she have any way to help?"
Puppeteer only raised an eyebrow, but remained silent.
He didn't need to say anything. The fact that it was Gong Daoyi who gave her the candy was enough to explain a lot of problems.
Neither spoke for a while. Bohemia and Yuan Xiangxi continued bickering while walking down the stairs, their animated voices breaking the silence on the first floor. Before they reached the living room, Bohemia shouted, "How did it go? Did you have the Artist try it?"
Lin Sanjiu turned, rembering the Artist and her blank card. Just at that mont, the candy jar rattled again, drawing her attention back. She saw Puppeteer closing his fingers, and the glass jar disappeared within his tightened grip.
'If he wants to take it, then let him have it.'
She let out a soft sigh.
The fact that Puppeteer noticed sothing was wrong ant that Gong Daoyi must have left more fake candies... She had no use for them, but maybe Puppeteer could trace them back to Gong Daoyi?
Bohemia approached the door, looking around with curiosity. Her attention was imdiately drawn to the Artist. "Oh, he's already started? What did he paint?"
No matter how hard she tried, it was impossible to recall whatever Gong Daoyi wanted her to forget. She took a deep breath and took two steps forward, lowering her head to look at the card in the Artist's hand. Besides Puppeteer, all the others—humans and non-human entities alike—gathered around. The Artist held a thin-tipped brush, engrossed in painting.
The lines, shadows, and a sense of volu quickly erged on the card, forming an increasingly lifelike round cake.
Bohemia's face lit up, and she patted Lin Sanjiu's shoulder, saying, "Sotis, you're not bad!"
"Look, he's painting it black and brown, so it must be a chocolate cake," Yuan Xiangxi quickly added, "Cats can't eat chocolate."
"Why do you have to be a killjoy?"
"What does chocolate taste like?" J7 asked.
Amid everyone's chatter, Lin Sanjiu's feeling like she had been suddenly struck gradually subsided. She stood among her unaware friends, still cold on one side as if she needed to borrow their clamor to warm herself up. After waiting a while, the Artist finally put down his brush, blew a few breaths on the card, and proudly showed his work to everyone.
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"This style is hyperrealism," Yuan Xiangxi, who was indeed knowledgeable, clapped his hands and praised, "It developed from photorealism... Becoming paintings more realistic than a photograph. Amazing! Look, all the details are clearer and more impactful compared to a photo."
"No." Lin Sanjiu interrupted with a sharp exhale, "It won't turn into real matter."
Bohemia's face fell. "Use a bit more force and try again!"
"It's not a matter of force..." When Lin Sanjiu pulled the card from the Artist's hand, she couldn't help but be amazed by the chocolate cake's lifelike appearance. To make it as realistic as possible, the Artist even added a table as the background. "Could it be because there's no description written? Let try."
She imitated the appearance of a regular item card and wrote 'Chocolate Cake' along with a brief description.
"A three-layer cake made from butter, milk, flour, and sugar," Bohemia read aloud, her mouth watering sounds growing louder. "Filled with cream and chocolate frosting... Is it done? Can we eat it?"
As soon as Lin Sanjiu finished writing, the card's surface glowed faintly, taking her aback. She prepared herself to hold a large cake, but the light faded, and the card returned to its original state without any changes.
"That's it?" Bohemia grumbled. "After putting in so much effort to upgrade your ability, all you get is a bunch of blank cards for taking notes and drawing?"
If that were the case, it would be completely useless.
Lin Sanjiu pondered for a while and flipped the card back and forth, trying to figure out why she had an intuition that [Planar World] had reversed. While she was lost in thought, Life Coach's chest puffed up higher and higher. He kept clearing his throat and pacing around her. After two minutes, she couldn't bear it and said, "Pick one of Gong Daoyi's items and take it. Then, say what you want to say."
Life Coach cleared his throat and swiftly pulled out the useless [Emotional Psychological Treatnt for Companions] from the pile of items as if he had already made up his mind to target it. He casually stuffed it into his pocket and said, "From the fragnts of your conversation, I've ford so impressions and conclusions. Maybe they can be helpful to you."
Lin Sanjiu remained silent.
"Your previous ability upgrades followed a pattern, and the essential differences were not too significant, right?"
"Yes." She nodded and said, "The conversion limit and threshold for weight always increases, but the last upgrade was a bit different... Before, I could only convert physical objects into cards, but after the last upgrade, I beca capable of converting formless ability effects too."
"Interesting, interesting." Life Coach mused, crossing his arms. "So, your ability has shown two forms until now. In its basic form, it's just an ordinary storage-type skill. In the interdiate form, it can transform formless energy. Now, it should be in the advanced form..."
The word 'basic' struck Lin Sanjiu's mind like lightning.
"Wait," she said hurriedly, "The basic form of my ability? Could the term 'basic ability' also refer to this?"
Everyone in the room turned toward her.
"There's sothing called the Ability Polishing Agent," Lin Sanjiu said, feeling a rush of words wanting to burst out, her tongue not cooperating well. "Its card description said that it doesn't work on basic abilities. I've never understood what it ant or how to use it properly. Could it be that I must use it to discover what [Planar World] has upgraded into?"
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